Illumination is one of necessary environmental conditions for layer breeding, and is closely related to the growth quality of chicklings, the quantity of survivals, the egg yield of adults, and the like. The illumination may facilitate the ingest, drink and exercise of chicklings, enhance the metabolism, improve the utilization rate of feedstuffs, promote the ovary development and the sexual maturity, and increase the egg production. Therefore, a breeder should establish a proper illumination system, enhance the illumination management, and artificially complement the illumination when necessary. Only in this way can the breeder improve the production of layers and obtain a better economic benefit.
The illumination duration has important effect on a layer, and a proper illumination duration is very important to the activity, material metabolism, growth and producing capacity of a layer. The illumination duration is further closely related to the sexual maturity of a layer. During the improved period of a layer, the sexual maturity will be postponed if the illumination duration is too short, otherwise the sexual maturity will be advanced. An early mature layer will start to lay eggs early but has a low egg yield and a short laying period. If the illumination duration is suddenly shortened during the fastigium of egg laying, the egg yield will be reduced and the mortality will be increased, and the egg yield can hardly be recovered to the original level during a short period even if the original illumination duration is resumed.
The illumination intensity also has important effect on a layer, and a negative consequence will be incurred if the illumination is too strong or too weak. An over strong illumination results in not only waste of electricity but also fidget of layers, rendering the layers to be neurotic, prone to be frightened and hyperactive, leading to huge consumption of energy, frequent tussle and pecking mania. If the illumination is intensified suddenly, the quality of eggshells will be decreased, and abnormal eggs, such as eggs with broken eggshell, soft eggshell, double-yolk or alecithal eggs, will be increased, and the rate of sudden death will be raised. The illumination of low intensity is advantageous for fat deposit during the fattening period, so a lay will gain weight faster when it is fed under a dark condition. However, if the illumination is too weak, chicklings will ingest less and drink less, so that the growth of chicklings will be influenced; and weak illumination has little stimulating effect on layers, affecting the egg yield.
At present, household chicken farms have a lot of problems in using illumination. Mostly, incandescent lamps or fluorescent lamps are employed as the light source, resulting in a high cost and a poor performance. A common incandescent bulb has a similar spectrum as the natural light, where most of the heat energy is dissipated as infrared rays rather than light rays, and there are more red and orange portions but less blue and green portions in the spectrum; A fluorescent tube, including the warm light type and the cold light (blue and green spectrum) type, can not endure a frequent start-up and regulation of the illumination intensity. Although a mercury vapour lamp has a similar efficiency, it is not applicable to a general low henhouse, and it needs a preheat time to be completely bright.
Furthermore, for the simple purpose of lighting for feeding at night, only one or two lamps are randomly installed in the henhouse. The requirement for illumination can not be met by the rare quantity and low power of the lamps, and the illumination intensity is not evenly distributed due to the improper distance between the lamps and the inappropriate mounting height of the lamps. At the place close to a lamp, the light is too strong so that the layers are neurotic and fidgety, causing tussling, pecking mania and rectocele. While at the place far from a lamp, the light is too weak to meet a requirement of illumination intensity, effecting the ingesting and drinking of the layers. Mostly, a chicken breeder turns a lamp on or off suddenly, causing a sudden change between a strong brightness and a darkness, which is an extreme stimulation for the herd, often resulting in a pecking anus, a rectocele, a fidget and a neurotic sudden death of the layers, also resulting in a notable increase of soft-shell eggs, broken-shell eggs and abnormal eggs and a great reduction in the economic benefit of the layer breeding.
An illumination complement system for intelligentized regulation to the illumination is an urgent need for the illumination in a henhouse because the requirement of the illumination quality, intensity and period during the lift cycle of a layer is complicated and demanding.